The Importance of Moral Resilience Illustrated Through Ling Ma’s Severance, Among Other Literary Pieces Leonardo Lupidi Course: Experiences in Literature Professor: Kara Rabbitt, Associate Provost in Academic Affairs Student: Leonardo Lupidi Essay: The Importance of Moral Resilience Illustrated Through Ling Ma’s Severance, Among Other Literary Pieces
Assignment: In this course, students were asked to develop an argument analyzing Ling Ma’s Severance and at least one other of the works students read in the course. These texts include: Henrick Ibsen’s play A Doll’s House; Kate Chopin’s short story, “The Story of an Hour”; and the poems “Dreamwood,” by Adrienne Rich, and “Alone” and “Still I Rise,” by Maya Angelou. One choice
of framework, which is featured in this selection, included the theme of Resilience. Specifically, students were asked: in what ways do the novel and the other work(s) you select explore or teach the theme of resilience, of finding the strength to growth through and overcome adversity?
Resilience, as a mental or emotional attribute, is often cited as being fundamentally important for the development and conservation of morality and our sense of right and wrong. Yet, despite how often this concept is cited and acclaimed, the world is filled with examples both actual and fictional of people lacking resilience. From actual phenomena like the Bystander effect to novels like The Lord of the Rings, the consequences of lacking moral resolve range from missing simple opportunities to submitting oneself to
unspeakable exploitation, or even becoming complicit in abusive systems such as broken homes or parasitic workplaces. In our recent readings, the concept of resilience and its importance is the narrative challenge placed front-and-center by each author unto their dramatis personae. Some characters are found wanting, ending up consumed by their internal and external struggles like Louise in The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin. Others learn to rise above adversity, like Nora in A Doll’s House by Henrick Ibsen. Severance by 89
